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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252916">Perfect As You Are</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaMasson/pseuds/VictoriaMasson'>VictoriaMasson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Stiles Stilinski is a Tease, The Pack Ships It, Tumblr Prompt, fashionable Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:54:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaMasson/pseuds/VictoriaMasson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The pack's resident genius comes back to Beacon Hills for spring break with a whole new wardrobe and Derek has a difficult time hiding his hopeless crush in the face of this new and improved fashionable Stiles.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>398</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Perfect As You Are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Derek was having a difficult time.</p><p>Arguably a less difficult time than he was prone to having, granted. He wasn’t currently in life threatening danger or anything, and his pack were all home from college for spring break. It felt good to have everyone around again, really good.</p><p>… so not a <em>terribly </em>difficult time, but still a hard time.</p><p>Derek was well aware of his shortcomings. He was not the most stable pack member, certainly not the kindest nor the smartest either. He’s made many mistakes in the past and he tries with vigor to stop from making any more.</p><p>All of those reasons and more are why he has never allowed himself to indulge in his stupid crush. Stiles can do better, <em>should</em> do better. Sure, Derek hates himself a little bit for it, but he knows that is one mistake he could definitely not come back from. And he doesn’t fancy being a lone wolf again should Scott have the inclination to throw Derek out of the pack for breaking his best friend’s heart. Not that Derek would ever intentionally break Stiles’ heart but… well he’s not good at relationships if his track record is anything to go by… ergo, he can’t trust himself to go there.</p><p>Now all of this is fine and dandy. Derek has, after all, had years of practice under his belt of ignoring his attraction to Stiles. Though he has a harder time concealing his fondness for the pack’s energetic genius, he’s become a pro at hiding the more… physical reactions that Stiles elicits from him.</p><p>At least… he <em>had</em> been good at it. When Stiles ran around wearing ugly faded blue jeans, graphic tees, button down flannels that resembled kitchen rags, and baggy sweatshirts that did little to show off Stiles’ surprisingly impressive physique. Now, Derek was absolutely still attracted to Stiles in his less than fashionable ensembles but it wasn’t like Stiles was trying to show off or anything, so it was mostly a second thought kind of thing. And it wasn’t as if Derek was someone who usually regarded clothing as being attractive or even a necessary requirement when it came to his attraction to somebody. Basically, it didn’t usually matter.</p><p>But<em> boy did it matter now</em>.</p><p>Stiles had a close group of friends at school, and in the years he’d spent with them Derek had noticed his style subtly changing. It was small things at first – fitted jeans, more tailored button downs, new shoes – but it was like Stiles had pulled all the stops for his latest visit. And… well… Derek was having a difficult time.</p><p>It started when the entire pack agreed to have dinner together their first night back. Derek had called ahead at a new local restaurant. The pack hadn’t tried it yet and the food was actually pretty good. At least, the take out was good, so he figured it would be as good a place as any for them all to meet.</p><p>Derek arrived shortly after Scott and Kira, followed by Boyd, Erica, and Isaac. Soon Allison, Lydia, Jackson, and Parrish arrived and it seemed like their party was nearly complete. Derek regarded the empty chair next to him warily, unsure and suspicious why the pack was refusing to sit next to him. He turned to his left to get Scott’s attention.</p><p>“Where’s Stiles?” He asked coolly, his disinterest practiced and executed flawlessly – if he said so himself.</p><p>“He left later than we did, he said he’d come straight here once he got into town.” Derek nodded his head and picked up the beer menu to peruse just for something to do. He liked the taste of beer anyway, even though it did nothing for him.</p><p>After placing their drink orders, Stiles finally arrived.</p><p>It was like something out of a cliché movie, the way everything around Derek went still and silent. Stiles was dressed like some kind of supermodel.</p><p>He had on tight, form-fitted black slacks. They were capri-cut and Derek could see where Stiles’ slender ankle met his shiny black oxfords. The white T-shirt was tucked loosely into his pants and the sleeves were rolled neatly to show more of his toned upper arms. Derek could tell from where he sat that Stiles wasn’t wearing an undershirt and the thin fabric of the tee left nothing to the imagination.</p><p>He entered the restaurant removing a fashionable leather jacket, which complimented his shoes perfectly. Derek watched as he scanned the restaurant for his pack before his eyes landed on them. Stiles smiled widely as he made his way over.</p><p>Derek was having a hard time tearing his eyes off of him and soon Stiles was sliding into the chair to his right, meeting his gaze.</p><p>“Hey Der.” He greeted warmly, still smiling, before turning to greet the rest of the table.</p><p>Derek felt his cheeks heat and shook his head to try and regain some composure. Why was Stiles dressed like this? Hadn’t he just spent hours driving? He should look terrible. Not that Stiles ever truly looked terrible. But still.</p><p>“Oh, Der-bear?” Derek was pulled out of his reverie by Erica’s grinning face. He looked up to see that it wasn’t just Erica giving him a knowing look, but pretty much every wolf at the table. Stiles was too busy talking animatedly with Allison to notice.</p><p>“Shut. Up.” Derek said in a low growl, causing Scott to elbow him with a shit-eating grin of his own.</p><p>“Stiles. I have to say, I am <em>loving </em>the new look.” Erica interrupted Stiles’ conversation with Allison with a hand to his arm. Stiles’ returning smile was positively beaming.</p><p>“Yeah? Evan helped me pick out some new clothes. I told him I didn’t really think it suited me but he was insistent so…” Stiles looked down at himself and smoothed the tee with his hands, causing the fabric to cling desperately to his skin. Derek could relate… he wanted to cling desperately to Stiles’ skin too. Derek coughed awkwardly in an attempt to squash that train of thought and took a conspicuous sip of his beer.</p><p>Stiles looked to Derek expectantly and though Derek couldn’t help but to meet his eyes, he wasn’t sure what Stiles was wanting him to say.</p><p>“Is it… uh… I mean. What do you think? Too much?” Stiles prompted to Derek, wringing his hands together in a habit that Derek recognized too well.</p><p>“Yes.” Derek croaked out after taking another gulp of his drink and immediately backtracked when he saw Stiles’ face fall – realizing his mistake instantaneously. “No! No! I mean, yes, no it’s not too much. It’s… good. Looks good. Great. You look great. Yeah.”</p><p>Stiles still looked a little lost but otherwise was placated by the response, smiling shyly before continuing his conversation with Allison. Derek ran a hand down his face cursing his own stupidity. He saw Scott raising his eyebrows at him from the corner of his eye but resolutely ignored him in favor of downing his stupid beer, which stupidly couldn’t get him drunk anyway.</p><p>Two days passed before the pack decided to meet together as a whole again, this time at the renovated Hale house. Derek told himself it was a casual movie night so there was no chance that Stiles would come in anything other than his usual flannels and baggy jeans. He was so, so wrong.</p><p>Stiles arrived in jean shorts, cut stylishly uneven, and a ripped up shirt that, on anyone else, Derek would have made fun of for looking like a wolf had clawed them up. Unfortunately, Derek didn’t have it in him to make fun of it on Stiles, as he was far too busy catching glimpses of the perfect pale skin beneath the revealing slits.</p><p>Derek couldn’t say for sure what the movie was about when the end of the night rolled around. He’d been struggling to pay attention to anything other than Stiles stretching himself prettily on the long leather couch against the far wall. Derek did, however, pointedly ignore the mischievous glances from his pack mates as they filed out after Stiles. He was pleading the fifth.</p><p>When Scott, Kira, Erica, and Boyd invited Derek out on a shopping trip with them, he almost refused. He didn’t fancy being a fifth wheel on a trip to the mall. He let himself be talked into it, though. Erica citing that he didn’t get to see the pack all that often and he should take advantage of the time he had with all of them. She wasn’t wrong.</p><p>He hadn’t been informed that Stiles would be in attendance as well, though, and he felt a twinge of bitterness towards his meddlesome pack for staging such an obvious set up. The bitterness was short in passing, however, as he was too distracted by Stiles’ latest outfit for it to truly take hold for long.</p><p>Ripped, black skinny jeans and a sleeveless, crimson button down. Could he, at the very least, avoid wearing <em>that</em> shade of red, Derek thought to himself. It complimented his pale skin far too much and poor Derek was only a man… wolf… whatever.</p><p>He endured a painful couple of hours, following Stiles around like a lovesick puppy. Trying desperately, and failing, to ignore the teasing looks from the others.</p><p>“Kira! Look! Maybe they’ll have those earrings you’ve been after.” Stiles trotted away excitedly to a stand with shiny jewelry, Kira in tow. Derek hung back, conversing with Boyd and forcing himself to keep his eyes from wandering back to Stiles.</p><p>“He’s doing it for you, you know that right?” Erica’s annoyed tone of voice beckoned Derek’s attention from Boyd.</p><p>“Huh?” Derek eloquently responded.</p><p>“Stiles. The new clothes, the new ‘do. He only does it when you’re gonna be around.” Erica shrugged as if what she was saying should be common knowledge to Derek. It certainly wasn’t.</p><p>“That’s ridiculous.” Derek insisted, crossing his arms and letting himself check that Stiles was still far enough away to not hear their conversation. Thank god he wasn’t a wolf.</p><p>“Sorry bro, but it’s true. He came over for dinner a few nights ago at mine and was rocking his 10-year-old Beatles shirt and sweat pants that I swear haven’t been washed in just as long.” Scott spoke up from Derek’s other side. Derek regarded the three of them suspiciously but noticed Stiles and Kira rejoining the group before he could say anything else.</p><p>Derek couldn’t help but let his mind go there once he arrived back home. He knew what that meant. Stiles was trying to impress him, or attract him, or something. Stiles was interested. Interested enough to doll himself up if Derek was going to be around. He tried to stop himself from feeling flattered… and failed miserably. He couldn't help it.</p><p>Still… Stiles had to know that Derek liked him as he was, right?</p><p>With a heavy disposition, Derek knew what he needed to do. He texted Erica his plan, to which she emphatically agreed.</p><p>The plan was for Erica to invite Stiles to a movie, just the two of them, but Derek would be the one to show.</p><p>When he arrived at the theater that night, he immediately placed Stiles. Sitting on a bench outside flipping his phone in his hands in a bored manner. He was wearing his familiar washed out jeans and a Spiderman t-shirt underneath a horrible flannel. Derek was surprised at how much he missed the familiar sight.</p><p>Stiles noticed Derek then and started to his feet in a panic. Looking around comically before looking down at his body and back up to Derek with wide eyes.</p><p>“Derek!” He squeaked out, “What are you doing here? I was just meeting… or I mean, Erica said she wanted to see… what are you doing here?” Stiles was covering his torso with his arms in embarrassment and it made Derek’s heart clench painfully.</p><p>Without a word Derek approached Stiles and grabbed his face in his hands, finally letting everything he felt and wanted to say seep out of his gaze as he took Stiles in.</p><p>“Der?” Stiles questioned quietly, his arms relaxing back down to his sides.</p><p>Derek let a rare smile overcome his face and pressed his lips lightly against Stiles’ in a question and a promise rolled into one.</p><p>When he leaned back out of the embrace, Stiles’ answer took the form of a blinding grin.</p><p>“You know, I had the perfect first date outfit planned. Evan helped me pick it out and everything. He’ll be pissed to hear this is what I was wearing for our first kiss.” Stiles raised one eyebrow in jest and looked down at his clothing again. Derek just huffed.</p><p>“I think it’s perfect.” Derek smirked, following Stiles’ eyes down his front.</p><p>“Hm. Me too.” And with that Stiles pulled Derek back in for another long awaited kiss.</p><p>Distantly, Derek could hear the sound of Scott whispering “Finally.” and Erica proudly tutting that Isaac owed her twenty bucks. He could only wonder for a moment if the whole pack was there, watching in secret, before his attention was completely consumed by Stiles again.</p><p>And as Stiles’ arms came around to rest around his shoulders, he put everything and everyone else out of his mind.</p><p>
  <em>Perfect.</em>
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